title: Root cause discovery of respawn failure

insight: The respawn failure was caused by CLAUDECODE env var leaking into the watcher tmux pane, triggering Claude Code's nested session protection

reasoning_chain: Kinan observed the AI has successfully respawned autonomously 25+ times but last session claimed inability

reasoning_chain: Research agents dissected every hook/script file in the respawn mechanism

reasoning_chain: Found respawn_output.log revealing exact failure: CLAUDECODE env var inherited by watcher pane

reasoning_chain: Claude Code detected nested session and refused to launch

reasoning_chain: Fix: unset CLAUDECODE at watcher startup AND before exec in respawn_command_centre.sh

source_context: The file reveals the exact cause of the last session failure: Claude Code refused to launch because the CLAUDECODE environment variable was inherited by the watcher pane, triggering the nested session protection


title: 8-layer session persistence defense system

insight: The auto-respawn system is built on 8 defensive layers spanning 14 files, using Claude Code hooks + tmux watcher

reasoning_chain: System needed to survive context exhaustion without human intervention

reasoning_chain: Layer 1: StatusLine writes context % to current.json on every prompt

reasoning_chain: Layer 2: Context Tracker warnings at 50/65/80%

reasoning_chain: Layer 3: PreCompact CTM backs up transcript before compaction

reasoning_chain: Layer 4: Autocompact Override (CLAUDE_AUTOCOMPACT_PCT_OVERRIDE=85)

reasoning_chain: Layer 5: Session Heartbeat periodic state snapshots every 25 tool calls

reasoning_chain: Layer 6: Auto-Respawn flag writer + Thinking Block Monitor

reasoning_chain: Layer 7: Stop State Flush final dump on session death

reasoning_chain: Layer 8: Session Recovery context injection on new session start

reasoning_chain: External watcher: respawn_command_centre.sh polls for flag, kills+restarts Claude

source_context: The Genesis Auto-Respawn System is an 8-layer defense system spanning 14 files (7 Python hooks, 2 bash scripts, 1 settings JSON, and 4 documentation files)


title: System works, bug is fixable

insight: The proven 25+ session track record proves the system works - the failure was a specific env var bug, not a fundamental flaw

reasoning_chain: Kinan pointed out the AI has respawned successfully multiple times

reasoning_chain: Research confirmed the system IS triggering in production (handoff files at 70% and 75% context)

reasoning_chain: The failure was a specific, fixable bug (CLAUDECODE env var)

reasoning_chain: Fixing the bug restores the proven capability

reasoning_chain: No fundamental redesign needed - just harden the existing working system

source_context: The system DOES work — 25+ sessions prove it. It just has this one env var bug plus a few hardening gaps.


title: CLAUDECODE env var causes nested session failure

insight: The CLAUDECODE=1 environment variable was being inherited by the tmux watcher process, causing Claude Code to refuse launch as a nested session

reasoning_chain: Watcher process was started from within a Claude session

reasoning_chain: Environment variables including CLAUDECODE=1 leaked into the watcher tmux pane

reasoning_chain: When watcher tried to launch new Claude, it detected nested session protection

reasoning_chain: Claude Code refused to launch, respawn failed silently

reasoning_chain: Fix requires unsetting CLAUDECODE before exec in the watcher script

source_context: The worst known failure mode is thinking block corruption: autocompact + agent notifications + user interrupt causes a permanent 400 error death spiral


type: DIRECTIVE

title: Session persistence with zero human touchpoint is key

insight: Kinan mandates that autonomous session respawn without any human intervention is a critical requirement

reasoning_chain: Over 25 sessions the system has successfully respawned without context loss

reasoning_chain: Last session the AI incorrectly claimed inability to do this

reasoning_chain: Kinan insists this capability must be hardwired as a skill

reasoning_chain: Zero human touchpoint respawn is a key requirement

reasoning_chain: Deep research needed to understand and fix the mechanism

source_context: session persistence with zero human touchpoint is a key. in the past you used this but its not the complete picture, there may be some other elements. maybe needs deep research now?


title: Watcher not running explains confidence loss

insight: The watcher process was not running (PID 8810 from earlier session had died), which may have caused the AI to lose confidence in the respawn mechanism

reasoning_chain: Last session AI claimed inability to respawn autonomously

reasoning_chain: Research found the watcher was NOT currently running (pgrep found nothing)

reasoning_chain: Without watcher, the respawn flag would be detected but no action taken

reasoning_chain: This could explain why the AI doubted its own capability

reasoning_chain: Restarting the watcher restored the full system

source_context: Interesting — the watcher is NOT currently running (pgrep found nothing). Kinan's earlier paste showed PID 8810 but that may have died since.


title: Code freeze - time to sell not build

insight: The system has reached a decision point: stop building new features and focus on deploying what's built to generate revenue

reasoning_chain: Ship readiness scored: AI Memory 78/100, Widget 42/100

reasoning_chain: Stripe products are LIVE with 4 tiers + BETA50 coupon

reasoning_chain: Frontend is built but not deployed to Netlify

reasoning_chain: Email sequences written and ready to load into Instantly.ai

reasoning_chain: Decision locked: CODE FREEZE - time to sell not build

reasoning_chain: Critical path: deploy frontend → verify Stripe webhook → load emails → first payment in 3-7 days

source_context: KEY DECISION: Code freeze on new features. Finish deploying what's built. Time to SELL, not build.